This e-book on the history of RPGs is free to download

Four years, 528 pages and 115 volunteers

Four years is a long time to devote to anything – much less a project that won’t make you any money – but that is exactly how Felipe Pepe has chosen to spend the past few years of his life.

In February 2014, the writer posted the results of an online poll highlighting the top computer role-playing games (CRPGs). Something was missing, however. More than the actual rankings, Pepe was interested in why the games were so good. This spawned the idea of asking people to write short paragraphs about each title yet still, Pepe wasn’t satisfied.

He wanted more games, more screenshots, longer reviews, fan-made patches, tips on mods and so on. Thus, the CRPG Book Project was born.

Pepe compiled a list of games and set about recruiting volunteers to help write about them. Four years, 528 pages and 115 volunteers later, the CRPG Book Project is complete! Best yet, it’s free to download and read.

The CRPG Book Project: Sharing the History of Computer Role-Playing Games is a passion project and at the moment, there aren’t any plans to create a physical edition. It also hasn’t been proofread so you’ll likely come across your fair share of grammar errors. Then again, it’s filled to the brim with original content from a variety of writers and looks to be an excellent resource on the topic. Nice work!